Sonic Boom

Recently, I've found myself revisiting Flight of the Knife by Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears and it keeps getting better with each listen. At first, I felt like I needed to be an Olympic gymnast just to keep up. Once I realized that keeping up was a losing proposition, I just let myself become absorbed by the journey the album takes.

The influences are obvious, whether it's Jellyfish and Queen on virtually every song or distinct references to British Beatlemania. La Madame on the Moon sounds like a deep album track from McCartney's 70s albums. The Curious Disappearance of the Sky-Ship Thunder-Man must be considered in the same context as the classics Rocket Man and Space Oddity and is the strongest track on the album. Yet despite the similarities, Bryan Scary sounds completely original - there's no one quite like him.

I still can't get my head around the music and lyrics - they feel like a sonic assault in the best of ways yet I'm left pondering what the fuck I just heard. Scary is the maddest of geniuses and his music is absolutely challenging and thrilling. At the heart, though, are catchy-as-hell tunes that you can't shake and wouldn't want to. The Flight of the Knife is a trip you can't miss.